Hongsam Reactive Dye Ink for Textile Printing

FLAAR has dedicated many years to studying inks all over the world; we have visited many in factories in Europe, Asia, and America. We have visited the Hongsam facilities several times since 2011: their demo room and also their new and their former manufacturing plants.

On February 2014, FLAAR visited the Hongsam demo room in Shanghai. Last year 2013, Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth and Maria Renee Ayau also visited their demo room and some end-user print shops. We were able to see the reactive dye ink process, using Hongsam ReactoMe ink (reactive dye ink).

Using reactive dye inks is a little more complicated than using acid dyes. But in the simplest terms the process is this: you apply a pre-treatment or coating to the cellulose-based (plant origin) fabric to be printed to unchain a chemical reaction when the ink is applied and heated, all this to ensure the ink bonds to the fabric. Afterwards the fabric should be washed to remove excess unreacted dyes and pre-treatment or coating solutions from the fabric.

Reactive dye

Printing method

Direct to pre-treated fabric

Characteristics

Dye absorbed by the fabric.

Fabrics

Cotton and rayon materials (cellulose: plant-based fibers)

Post-treatment

Dry, saturated steam and wash (from cold temperature to hot)

Pros

Bright colors, light fastness and great wash fastness

Cons

Lots of water is needed.

Here you can see some samples printed with Hongsam ReactoMe reactive dye ink.

Contact info to learn more about Hongsam Reactive Dye inks

You can visit the nice Hongsam booth at APPPEXPO in July, or at other major printer expos.